Aussie home buyers 'snapping up bargains'
3:30PM Monday Dec 01, 2008
MELBOURNE - The global financial crisis is turning into the great financial opportunity for canny house buyers who are finding bargains after properties fail to sell at auction.
According to chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria Enzo Raimondo 50 per cent of homes that don't sell on the day of an auction are sold within two weeks.
"If you've got capacity to borrow, if you've got a job, now is the best time to secure a house since 2000," Mr Raimondo said.
He was speaking after the release of a survey by realestate.com.au which showed that around 46 per cent of Australians indicate they still intend to secure their dream home, despite the global credit crunch.
Fifty three per cent of respondents were not concerned about their job security.
Mr Raimondo told AAP that vendors have been reluctant to adjust their expectations after the boom year of 2007.
"Those prices were unsustainable," Mr Raimondo said.
He said the top end of the housing market is suffering the most but houses in the A$400,000 ($482,860) to $500,000 range are benefiting from the credit squeeze.
Jamie Pride, chief executive of realestate.com.au believes the survey results paint an interesting picture of how Australians are reacting to international events, as the world slides into a global recession.
"Our research suggests that part of the reason for the optimism may be attributed to the recent First Home Owners Grant announcement, which formed part of the federal government's rescue package launched in mid October, in a bid to stimulate interest into new housing developments," he said.
"In fact, realestate.com.au experienced record traffic which generated a surge in unique browsers to the house and land section of the site jumping up by 130 per cent within days of the announcement."
Unique browsers increased from an average of 1,500 per day to well over 4,000 in mid-October.
The online survey attracted 2,974 respondents in the Buy section of the realestate.com.au website in November.
- AAP
3:30PM Monday Dec 01, 2008
MELBOURNE - The global financial crisis is turning into the great financial opportunity for canny house buyers who are finding bargains after properties fail to sell at auction.
According to chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria Enzo Raimondo 50 per cent of homes that don't sell on the day of an auction are sold within two weeks.
"If you've got capacity to borrow, if you've got a job, now is the best time to secure a house since 2000," Mr Raimondo said.
He was speaking after the release of a survey by realestate.com.au which showed that around 46 per cent of Australians indicate they still intend to secure their dream home, despite the global credit crunch.
Fifty three per cent of respondents were not concerned about their job security.
Mr Raimondo told AAP that vendors have been reluctant to adjust their expectations after the boom year of 2007.
"Those prices were unsustainable," Mr Raimondo said.
He said the top end of the housing market is suffering the most but houses in the A$400,000 ($482,860) to $500,000 range are benefiting from the credit squeeze.
Jamie Pride, chief executive of realestate.com.au believes the survey results paint an interesting picture of how Australians are reacting to international events, as the world slides into a global recession.
"Our research suggests that part of the reason for the optimism may be attributed to the recent First Home Owners Grant announcement, which formed part of the federal government's rescue package launched in mid October, in a bid to stimulate interest into new housing developments," he said.
"In fact, realestate.com.au experienced record traffic which generated a surge in unique browsers to the house and land section of the site jumping up by 130 per cent within days of the announcement."
Unique browsers increased from an average of 1,500 per day to well over 4,000 in mid-October.
The online survey attracted 2,974 respondents in the Buy section of the realestate.com.au website in November.
- AAP
They're all cash rich and need a place to invest their ill gotten gains. :p
